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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Well said PP!

It is remarkable to me how so many people claiming health benefits as a reason would not rely on African health norms in any other context. [/quote]

They’re also probably the same people in the other recent thread saying the science supporting breastfeeding is “very very thin,” because, you know, they read an article in the Atlantic about it once. Just like they read the AAP press release on corcumcision, or, more likely, a CNN article shared on Facebook poorly summarizing the summary of the press release. And I’m sure they love to post smug pro-#SCIENCE ramblings on social media to demonstrate their superiority over anti-vaxxers, who they lump together with/use as shorthand for all “crunchy” parenting choices they didn’t follow (like not circumcising). But the truth is, they are just as science illiterate as the anti vaxxers or climate deniers they make fun of.[/quote]

But I see people do the same thing in touting, say, a study conducted in urban slums in India on the benefits of breastfeeding over formula for preventing gastroenteritis, to argue the superiority of breastfeeding in the U.S.  I wouldn't go so far as to call that science illiteracy, but it's pretty specious.  If studies in non-Western cultures don't apply to circumcision, they don't apply to breastfeeding, either.[/quote]

Oh, yay, let’s turn a 19 page thread on circumcision into a breastfeeding vs. formula debate.

Anyway. I am the PP and that is basically the last thing I want to do, so I am going to respond once and leave this thread.

To be clear, I don’t think the studies on circumcision and STDs are invalid. They are the best research we have and, even when applied to the US show potential for a modest but significant reduction in transmission. 
I just think the results are modest. And not cause to shame people who make a different decision. The decision to circumcise is, largely, cultural, emotional, religious and cannot be divorced from those reasons simply because “science.” As the AAP statement itself says, the benefits are real, but not strong enough to recommend the procedure be routine.

The exact same thing can be said about breastfeeding. The benefits of breastmilk over formula are real. The best science we have establishes that. But they are modest. They are not cause to shame people for making another choice. They are not cause to beat yourself up if BFing doesn’t work for you. [/quote]

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